Words Expose the Heart

Sticks and stones are launched by hands
but words expose the heart.


That is my own attempt at crafting a Proverb about the power of words. Not that there is a lack of Proverbs about the power and revealing affect of words. Indeed the Proverbs is full of timely instruction for the wise about how to harness their words and warning against the fool who spews out words like acid, burning everyone who is within splashing distance. Read these great ditties from Proverbs and let them sink deep into your heart.

The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly. (15:2)

Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. (4:24)

He who loves purity of heart, and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend. (22:11)

Fine speech is not becoming to a fool; still less is false speech to a prince. (17:7)

What are worthless and wicked people like? They are constant liars, signaling their deceit with a wink of the eye, a nudge of the foot, or the wiggle of fingers. (NLT) (6:12-13)

The thrust is if you are wise you will exert every possible degree of discipline in the use of your words and when those bad ones slip out you will own them and clean up the mess that they have caused. But the bigger issue involved is that the words we use are like the fruit of tree, they reveal the relative health (righteously speaking) of our hearts.

A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad. 34 You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. 35 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. (NLT) Matthew 12:33-35

Our words are on display, both those proclaimed from the roof-tops and those whispered to our nearest neighbor. They are displaying the treasury of our heart. A good heart is one that has been filled up with the riches of Christ and then daily lives “in Him”. For Christ alone can mend our brokenness and restore us the image-bearing statues we were designed for. Lean on Christ. Let your heart be transformed. And let your words be like sweet fruit, displaying the richness He has deposited in your hearts.

Suffering Succotash

What role does suffering play in the life of the Christian? That is a reality that some face daily and others run from like the plague. Our Tuesday bible study has brought us to Colossians 1:24, which shares how Paul (writing from prison) viewed his own suffering. Maybe it will help us.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,Colossians 1:24 (ESV)

So how did Paul view is suffering? No doubt Paul suffered, he mentions it 3 times (1:24, 29; 2:1) Paul sees a direct correlation between his suffering and the sufferings of Christ. The most literal translation of Colossians 1:24 says, “I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s suffering for the sake of his body, that is the church.” This raises some questions: What is lacking in the sufferings in Christ? How can Paul suggest that he is suffering on behalf of others like Christ did?

Consider 1 Peter 4:13. In this section Peter is encouraging Christians who are suffering specifically for being Christians. In this section Peter suggests that Christians “should not be surprised with suffering (12)” …that those who suffer “are blessed (14)”…to “not be ashamed, but to praise God (16)” for such suffering…and that such suffering is “according to God’s will (19)”. But in the midst of this section which encourages Christians to endure suffering Peter also clearly says “rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ”. This passage shares two similarities with Colossians, first it is clearly speaking about the physical suffering or affliction of Jesus and secondly there is a sense in which Christians are participating in that suffering. In 1 Peter the correlation is broadened a bit to include all Christians who suffer. But the questions raised above have not yet been answered: What is lacking in the sufferings of Christ? And how can Paul or Peter suggest that they can suffer as Christ did?

1 Corinthians 16:17 is helpful to our understanding of these verses because they include similar phraseology to what is in Col 1:24. Paul is writing to the Corinthians of his joy for the arrival of three close friends and explains that “they have made up for your absence (ESV).” As you look at the word use behind this translation you will see a more literal translation reads, “They have supplied/filled-up what was lacking on your part.” You will now see the similarity to Col 1:24, where Paul stated “I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s sufferings.”

A closer look at the context of 1 Corinthians suggests that Paul is not bemoaning the Corinthians or putting down their generosity or love for him. But there were things that the three friends, who were actually there, could do that the distant Corinthians could not do, because of their presence. Verse 18 suggests that these men because of their presence were able to refresh Paul’s spirit. The thing that was lacking was the physical, real presence of the Corinthians. The force of this idea is communicated well in the NLT which reads, “They have providing the help you weren’t here to give me.”

Now let’s reconsider Col 1:24. Some might say that Paul is suggesting that there is something qualitatively lacking in Christ’s suffering. So that the suffering he is doing actually completes the salvific sufferings of Christ. But even looking a few verses earlier (1:20, 22), Paul makes it pretty clear that Christ alone had settled the issue of justification by his sacrifice on the cross

Rather, consider that Paul’s suffering is not an addition to the sufferings of Christ but an extension of the sufferings of Christ (Tom Wright, Paul for Everyone, 159). What is lacking is only that Christ is not present to suffer personally as the gospel is fully proclaimed and the church faces persecution. In this way Paul “participates in the sufferings of Christ” because he is suffering on his behalf.

In addition, Paul is developing the idea that what is true of Christ is true of them and what is true of them is true of Christ. Later in 2:12-13 the Colossians have been buried with him, raised with him and made alive with him. They are so identified with their Christ, as the body is to the head, that what is true of him is true of them. So here in 1:24 as Paul is suffering he identifies his suffering with the sufferings of Christ, because what is true of him is true of HIM.

Tom Wright suggests some helpful illustrations which in part give a picture of this type of identification. It is like an ambassador when they go overseas they are speaking on behalf of the leader and the people of the country, although he is the only one present he is representing others in his service. Or in certain cultures when someone from a family is embarrassed or attacked it is as if the whole family is attacked. There is a sense of identification between the individual and the corporate body.

At the Passion '06 Conference this year, John Piper spoke on this very verse and he made the statement that the glory of the grace of God was maximally displayed in the suffering of Christ. He then asked the stadium of hip dressing, iPOD carrying, David Crowder loving college students if they would join in maximally displaying the glory of the grace of God by being willing to joyfully suffer for Him. Talk about putting our lives into perspective. So how about it?

Sin is so Fun!

Don't tell me that you haven't thought that, felt that or even (gulp) said that. That's because the road from "hating sin" to "loving it" is really not that far. It happens when our thinking becomes muddy. There are certainly times when every cell in our body is pulsing with longing for the buzz of a few extra Margaritas or the high of passing along the latest news about someone's personal life. How about getting away with going 65 in a 35 zone or getting too much change back at the quickie mart. We fool our boss about the number of hours we actually put in at work or how we actually spent those dollars on our expense report. The real joy is that no one will ever be able to find out about our thoughts, how ever self-agrandizing or perverse they may be. And in quite a short time we are having fun at sin.

That is where I find myself from time to time... So I was stopped short by a comment offered by Tom Wright in his commentary on a Colossians 1:21-23 where he says,

"Don't be fobbed off with the idea that 'sin' or 'wickedness' means 'having a good time when God wants you to have a rotten time.' That's a typical example of the muddled thinking that people get into when they ignore or forget the true God."

How forgetful we are sometimes! The truth about sin is that it alienates us and expresses hostility towards God. Sin leaves us dead in our transgressions . God's desire to deliver us from the penalty of sin, through Christ, and the power of sin, through the holy spirit is to free us up for a more wonderfully enriching life. Sin might be pleasing for a period of time, but it does not bring satisfaction to the soul. The fun-ness of sin wears off and leaves us with guilt, emptiness and purposelessness. Real life is an existence rooted in Christ.

Judas on Trial

I’ve read it. I finally sat down and read through the ”Gospel of Judas” (GoJ). And I can say that I am a lot less worried about it after reading it than before. I did wonder what I would encounter in its pages. Would I find something that would so cross the other gospel accounts so as to shed some question upon their version of the story?

What I found was so new and foreign that it barely resembled anything within the other four gospels. Now I know why Simon Gathercole, a New Testament professor at Aberdeen University, defended the text as authentic, but relatively unimportant. He went on to say "It is certainly an ancient text, but not ancient enough to tell us anything new... It contains themes which are alien to the first-century world of Jesus and Judas, but which became popular later."

The GoJ has a completely different emphasis that the Biblical Gospels:
1.It emphasizes angels, aeons, luminaries and stars as a hierarchy of spiritual beings.
2.It introduces other angelic names like El, Nebro, Yaldabaoth and Saklas.
3.It offers an alternative creation story, where God is not directly involved in Creation, but one of his angels (Saklas) is. (Compare Genesis 1-2).
4.It suggests that the material world is evil & inferior and the spiritual world is good and superior.
5. It suggests that Judas, the traitor, is actually the hero of the story. In the GoJ, Jesus says to Judas, “…you will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me.”

For a good response, read “From Traitor to Hero?” by Albert Mohler, the President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. For those new to the discussion, these ideas are not new nor are they from the first century. They are 2nd-3rd century ideas common in other writings know as “Gnostic” writings. The term Gnostic is taken from the greek work for knowledge “gnosis”. And the Gnostic literature often speaks in mysterious language about achieving godhood through acquiring secret knowledge and speaks of salvation as release from this evil world.

But I don’t want to leave all the response to the professionals so I thought I would outline a four of my own observations from my reading of GoJ and how it differs drastically from the story recorded in the Biblical gospels.

1. There is a lack of story. While the gospels tell the story of the life and ministry of Jesus the GoJ speaks of private conversations between Jesus and Judas. The GoJ only has one geographical name, Judea, very early in the document. No other disciples or contemporaries of Jesus are named other than Judas. It is quite odd and very un-gospel-like in its writing style.

A cursory glance at the Biblical gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John) reveals they are stories full of characters, locations, movement and plot. They are the stories of the words and works of Jesus. Luke goes so far as to start his gospel account with an introductory comment of validation…

“Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.”

2. Jesus is a spiritual snob. While the gospels never mention Jesus laughing (one silent issue of the Bible which has saddened me) the GoJ has Jesus laughing four times. It is not the laughter that makes this presentation of Jesus different, but at who and why he is laughing. In each situation he is laughing at the misunderstanding of his followers. He laughs at their prayers and at their spiritual spiritual questions.

In the Bible Jesus does gets angry at the self-righteous, those who think they are better than they truly are. But at those who are seeking to know him he treats with love, compassions, kindness and patience.

3. Jesus is in conflict with his disciples. While in the canonical gospels the disciples were often faithless and misunderstood what Jesus was saying it was the spiritual world and the established religious authorities with whom he is in conflict. But in the GoJ Jesus has no conflict with religious authorities or the spiritual, in fact they are not mentioned, but instead he is in conflict with all the disciples except Judas.

For example in the GoJ, the disciples are praying before having communion, and Jesus laughs at them. After exchanging a few words the GoJ records this conversation.

“They said, ‘Master, you are […] the son of our God.’ Jesus said to them, ‘How do you know me? Truly [I] say to you, no generation of the people that are among you will know me.” When the disciples heard this, they started getting angry and infuriated and began blaspheming against him in their hearts.”

In the Bible, it is the religious leaders who have such anger and conflict with Jesus. (Matt 9:34, 12:14, 24; Mark 3:6; Luke 11:53-54; John 7:32) The disciples’ biggest problem with Jesus is not anger but misunderstanding. They have left everything to follow Jesus and spend 3 years trying to understand the true meaning of who he is and what he is teaching. (Mark 4:13, 8:17; Luke 9:45, 18:34; John 8:27, 12:16)

4. Jesus is not truly known by the disciples except Judas. In the above account from the GoJ Jesus states to the disciples, “How do you know me? Truly [I] say to you, no generation of the people that are among you will know me.” But in the Biblical gospels is the faith and affirmation from the disciples that provides the foundation upon which Jesus will build the church.

Consider Matthew 16: 13-18, “When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

DaVinci upstaged by Judas

I had to chuckle when I heard the news of "recent" discovery of an ancient biblical document which could prove more dangerous to the Church than the Da Vinci Codes...the Gospel of Judas. Just some basic facts about the history of this document seems to make the timing of this world-wide release more akin to release of Titanic than the Dead Sea Scrolls. With the renewed interest in church history, created by the nearing release of the movie "The Da Vinci Code" and in the spirit of "Seeking the Truth" it appears that Judas might be upstaging DaVinci in the public box office.

But what should you make of the Gospel of Judas? Here are a few resources that will fill you in on some details.

Read the Gospel of Judas yourself
"Will the Real Judas Please Stand Up?"by Darrell Bock
Scott McKnight's Blog: Judas 1, Judas 2
Mark Goodacre's Blog

The document begins, "The secret account of the revelation that Jesus spoke in conversation with Judas Iscariot…” We all like a good secret don't we? But Bill Brown, President of Cedarville University, has done a nice job addressing some of the popular hype about this "Lost Gospel" in his recent blog posting. Here is what Dr. Brown said....

"A lot of people have asked about the "new discovery" of the Gospel of Judas. I am disappointed at how naive the press, the average person and even the average Christian are about these so-called "gospels." The manuscript was actually found almost thirty years ago and is written in Coptic, the language of first century Egypt. It dates from sometime in the fourth century, about 300 years after Christ (and Judas). It may be a translation of an earlier third century manuscript. Of course, it has nothing historical to say about Judas or Jesus but reinterprets the story to fit a theological belief at odds with Christianity. It parallels the teachings of another popular book, The Da Vinci Code. How surprising that the Gospel of Judas is being released now!

The Gospel of Judas is not really a gospel at all but part of the Gnostic literature that arose in the second - third century after Christ. They were all composed so long after the apostles and the early church and were never considered inspired and a part of God's revelation of the New Testament, which was completed before the end of the first century. The Gnostics held unusual beliefs about Jesus Christ and the world, beliefs that are today held by many of the Transcendental/New Age groups. They taught that salvation was obtained by "secret knowledge" rather than Christ's death for sins on the cross. The highly spiritual approach by gnosticism made many of them teach that a person could live any way they wanted. The material world, especially the human body, was evil and prone to immoral acts that had no effect on a person's spiritual state. You can see the very early stages of this belief in Colossians 2:8; Jude 3-4; and 2 John 7-9. Notice how many high profile celebrities flock to modern versions of gnosticism, like Scientology and the Kabbalah. Some of the benefits of spirituality with none of the responsibility. The "natural bent of the human mind," says C. S. Lewis."

What strikes me is that this is nothing new. There have been many non-canonical writings (i.e Gospel of Thomas) which have been circulating for years which have never been accepted by the Church, because they have never been affirmed to be inspired. This "lost gospel" of Judas has been around for years and NOW is garnishing paparazzi status solely because of the public hype of the DaVinci Code.